Approaching the centre on a summer’s day there’s a special quality to the light filtered through multiple shades of green.
The days are long and darkness fleeting; and everything in the forest is very busy.
There are many youngsters demanding to be fed from fluffball blue tits to boisterous and bouncy pine martens. While coping with the incessant demands for food, parents also need to lay down their own fat reserves after a long and hungry winter. Accordingly, this is a great time to see animals in daylight that would normally be largely nocturnal; there just aren’t enough hours of darkness to get everything done.
This summer we’ve been treated to a family of four pine martens creating chaos wherever they appear; wedging themselves into the feeders, standing on each other and falling off branches.
Similarly, young jays have popped by for a visit. As skittish as the pine martens are confident, they are spooked by the slightest movement. Our most colourful corvid, their pink chests and iridescent blue flash of feathers on their wings are a reward for watching quietly.
After the centre has closed, the long evenings provide an opportunity to watch our resident badger trio (they live in a small sett behind the centre) as they hoover up any food left over from the day. If you’re lucky, a tawny owl may appear, attracted by the voles and mice, who are busy and distracted as they add peanuts to their growing stores.
–Pete
